China's Arctic engagement: a historical analysis

Abstract

Now more than ever, the effects of climate change are physically observable. One of the most shocking ones is ice melting in the Arctic region, which has become a matter of international debate over the last years. This thesis aims at retracing the history of China’s engagement in the Artic, starting from the 1920s until today; and to lay the foundation for a deeper understanding of its current role in the region from a sociopolitical and economic perspective. This work is organised as follows. In the first Chapter, I provide a description of the geographical characteristics of the Artic region, along with an overview of the world’s countries which are involved in its management. The second Chapter focusses on two main topics: (i) the presence of China in the Artic, framed in a more general context of China’s history; and (ii) China’s engagement in the region over the last ten years, despite being a “near-Artic state”. Finally, in the third Chapter, I analyse China’s Artic policy through the White Paper, published by the State Council of China in 2018. In the last part of the chapter, after having described some crucial plans carried out in the Artic, such as the “Belt and Road Initiative” and the “Polar Silk Road”, I mention the latest events occurred in the region, including the “New Cold War” between China, Russia and the US.